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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590597">Refuge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DippingSauce3/pseuds/DippingSauce3'>DippingSauce3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Also I suck with tags, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, BTW this is also a lyrical poem, Basically any trauma you can think of, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Childhood Trauma, Dorks in Love, Epic Poetry, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Good for them on that front, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I just freakin love these two together, I would advise you to steer clear of reading this, Idiots in Love, It's very different from a song, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Poetry, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, So Bear With me, So if you're easily triggered, Teen Angst, Temporarily Unrequited Love, The angst is strong with this fanfic, Trauma, True Love, Unrequited Love, they give me life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:26:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590597</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DippingSauce3/pseuds/DippingSauce3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone assumes Rogelio has never experienced feelings of any kind due to his stoic demeanor, or that he even thinks of anything besides combat, really. They have not once ever contemplated what has led him to become that way, however.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kyle/Rogelio (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Parts 1-3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Greetings, readers! My name is (obviously) Dippingsauce3, but you can shorten it to Dipper, if you'd prefer that. This is my first fanfic ever written for the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) fandom, though not the first fanfic I've written in general. I began shipping Rogelio and Kyle the second I saw their little background scenes in seasons 1 and 2. I couldn't resist, y'all; they were just so goshdarn cute towards each other! It kinda annoyed me how little screen-time they received from season 3 onwards, but all was forgiven when Noelle confirmed that they were a couple. Despite this, I've noticed how the SPOP fandom is sorely lacking in Kyle x Rogelio content. So I've arrived to (hopefully) remediate that with my lyrical poem titled "Refuge", which will attempt to explore the backstory of the relationship between these two lovebirds, in a way that the show couldn't. I hope you enjoy! - Dipper</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A lizard forms his first true friendship with a scrawny Etherian boy. A very unique one, at that.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>PART ONE: ESCAPISM (IN MEDIA RES)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>  Dew in my optics, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>  Alert but neurotic. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> These ghastly visions, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Impassioned confessions, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Ravage my psyche, </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Then I sense lightly </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A purposeful graze. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My mind forms a maze </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Until he I perceived, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Making me relieved. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Yellow locks of gold, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Framing a smile untold </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Of our shared history. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He extends a hand; </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I helplessly give in. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Forgetting the hell we live in. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> We took refuge within  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Each other’s consciousness, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Divulged our shared pain </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Between these intense kisses, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Others wouldn't understand. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> This world seems barren; </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Hatred looms in the air, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Jubilance becomes a farce, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And food comes up scarce. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> All for the prospect of victory. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> I retrace from my history, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My harrowing separation </em>
</p><p>
  <em> From hearth and kin; </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The incense engulfing </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My home to nothing. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> It took along with it </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My devil-may-care spirit. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But they didn’t care. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Just sent me to their lair. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> See I get conditioned. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> I felt disarrayed, until we befriended. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>PART TWO: FAINT OF HEART</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> At your introduction </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My first impression </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Of you, upon first </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Glance, was your </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Shifting, pallid face. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Your heart raced, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> We could all hear </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It, and the words </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Collapsed from out </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Your trembling mouth. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> With a distinct style, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I heard your name Kyle </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Before your syncope </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Startled us all, even me, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Never the type to alarm. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Perhaps I loathe seeing others harmed? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> As spontaneous as I could, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> (Not a moment to mull) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I seized him from the floor, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Inspected him for sores, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> When all of a sudden… </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The blonde's eyes opened, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And his head tilted in my  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Direction, wherein I </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sensed affection in them. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> So I had to smile at him. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> After a hearty thanks, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> From him, and a drink </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Out of my water cup </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I helped Kyle get up, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Not expecting much else.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Until he said something scandalous. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>PART THREE: BLOSSOM BUDDIES</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “He-um, I was  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Uh, kinda just </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Wondering if, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> You’d like to have </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ...Oh, I don’t know… </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> With me...lunch?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My previous hunch </em>
</p><p>
  <em> About him faded. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Now I felt elated </em>
</p><p>
  <em> To have his company. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The other soldiers </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Viewed me a lizard </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Incapable of love, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> That fought rough </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And seldom spoke. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> So they gave me dirty looks. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> But you went blind </em>
</p><p>
  <em> To, or didn’t mind, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> These deficiencies; </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Not even a tease. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> You just wouldn’t. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As a fierce companion,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Any audacious actor who’d</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Either harass you, hurt you,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ridicule you, or even just ignore</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You, I'll leave scar'd on the floor.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My candid depiction of a shield,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Though intimidation it did yield,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Led me astray from the self,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And neglect my own health,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Further towards Despondos, a palpable desolateness regressed itself to my ghost.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That wraps up the first half of "Refuge", which in total consists of about 6 parts, give or take. The next three will be released at a much later date. Perhaps by next Friday? We'll see, but for the moment, keep yourself updated. And as always, thank you for reading this all the way through. I wholeheartedly appreciate it! - Dipper</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Parts 4-7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rogelio attempts to overcome some deep-seatred trauma as his and Kyle's turbulent friendship evolves into full-fledged romance.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>PART FOUR: CREATURE COMFORTED</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One unbearable</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eve, I wasn’t able</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To slumber serene;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As those harrowing</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Episodes returned:</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My hearth, burned.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My mother, puling.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Strange hands dueling</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For my ownership,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Tight with their grip.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Abruptly aroused,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Choler in me doused,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I proceeded to growl</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>All the while a scowl</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Resided on my snout.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This awoke the remaining recruits about.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This happened to also </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Include Kyle, although</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He distinguished him-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Self from all of them,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As he headed for me!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He had read my agony,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In all of its gory glory.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But it never did worry</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Him in the very least,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Taming me, the beast.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He touched my cheek,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And oh! I turned weak.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With my fire rendered,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He stroked me tender,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gently lulling me to paradise,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One of a perennial sunrise.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>PART FIVE: IT GETS BITTERSWEET </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Alas, not all would gleam,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In the sun, so it seemed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>While I managed to heal</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>From that horrific ordeal,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Next came far, far worse.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Since I would immerse</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Myself into great peril,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Regress into my feral</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Side to save my Kyle,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The others took note</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And hatefully wrote</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>On him biting insults</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In a full-on assault</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>At his soft character</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>While his protector,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>None other than myself, was present.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I became very indignant,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>After having caught wind</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of all that had happened,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A prick, akin to a syringe,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Imbued me with revenge.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My self-control crumbled,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Followed by the grumble:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A landslide of childhood</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Trauma upon wildwood,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>All reasoning uprooted.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then your conflagration had me soothed,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Embracing me yet anew.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In an instant, I just knew</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It pertained to him alone:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My best friend the blonde.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My brain thought otherwise</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When I perceived his eyes</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Taking my mother’s shape.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Memories I couldn’t escape</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Flooded back in, to drown me.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So that I couldn’t think soundly.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Last I could recall, I had jostled</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kyle, in a manner much hostile,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As I retreat to my bunk-bed,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To wail along with the dead,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whose help would really ben-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Efit me expelling this demon</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That leaves me obfuscated.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My normalcy, it confiscated.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Any sense of our connection</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Turned in the other direction.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But my mind had played a ruse,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For our comradery I didn’t lose.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He approached me tentatively,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then caressed me sensitively, </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And my tempest simmered down.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For a while, he made little sound,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before he began with, “Look, I know</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You think that I have never hit a low,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Or at the very least, try to feel alright,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But really, I cry to myself every night.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Though I won’t claim that it’ll get easier,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Know that you’ll always have me here</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To whom disclose your inner turmoil.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Because I remain a friend ever loyal</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In spite of the hardships we endure”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With a fluorescent smile he ensured</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He meant each one of those words</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>From that speech meriting awards,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I captured within him a kindred yet woeful</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Soul, of a childhood equally as sorrowful.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Therefrom, our friendship grew more fortified.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>PART SIX: A REPTILIAN’S REFLECTION</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rarely now did I ever become mortified</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>By the crepuscular wisps of my illusions,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That get relegated to mere dissolutions</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Once your ivory hand comes into focus</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Scooping me with the grasp of a locust.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Could I even go to describe this sentiment,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This catharsis to my mental imprisonment,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In terms strictly limited for those platonic?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For I feel his affectionate touches a tonic</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My heart squirms when I catch a glimpse</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of his face, my brain-cells turn to blimps,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And my usually-active brain left a drought.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It confuses me how, towards other scouts,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>These fervid feelings never materialized,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But in your presence, suddenly realized.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’d receive an answer via literature;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Though not a regular library fixture,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kyle had lent me a book of poems</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Which he attested had shown him</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Some feelings he long disregarded.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When questioned, he was guarded,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Only beseeching me to commence,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To understand what he said hence.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So I went and read it in its entirety,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Once done, I found it inspired me</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In identifying this concealed sense.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Which bears the name of romance.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Even when embroiled in a conflict,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The concept nonetheless indicted</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Us for a felony most very rapturous</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yet unacceptable under the Horde’s duress.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>PART SEVEN: HOME IS WHERE THE START (OF OUR LOVE) IS</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With great defeat, I relinquished back into</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kyle’s ivory hands this wistful memento</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of a heart that had ceased to unhatch,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just to discern a stealthy grin attached</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Onto his face, one of bridled ebullience</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Somehow able to envelop the ambience.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Incredulous from this singular facial expression,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I tried deciphering what prompted its apparition,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Until you eased things a little for me and said</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Did y-you...did you know that what you read</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ro, perfectly describes how I have felt</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Towards you, ever since we were little</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And you defended me from my bullies?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The way that we would cherish wholly</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Our fraternity, when they all ostracized</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Us, for our intimacy they just despised?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Over several years and shared moments,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not to mention the hapless predicaments</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That I must confess, were my own doing,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’ve noticed that these emotions brewing</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Inside of me did not reflect the ideality</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of a proper friendship, and its duality</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In stoic chastity and dormant respect.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I cannot say whether you may expect</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Me to make this confession outwards</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Or not, risking you believing it absurd</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To have ever heard such utter nonsense</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And abandoning me for any new friends.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But I have gone off on too long a tangent;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Soon you will outgrow your own patience.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thus, I will cut the crap and say it now</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I love you, Rogelio; my devotion I vow.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Notwithstanding both our mental scarring,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Your oft-incomprehensible growls barring,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My fondness for you continues to burgeon;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Never have I considered it to be a burden.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>However, I recognize you might not reciprocate.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>See me as nothing more than a squadronmate,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So should you reject me and sever contact</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I ask that you please do so with some tact</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To spare me the anguish of a broken will.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Upon hearing this confession, stood still</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did my posture and the flow of thoughts;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whereof their aid would’ve helped lots,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For I likely displayed myself a mannequin</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Mocking the sensibilities of Etherian men.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>All the while, Kyle awaited his own death,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Made clearly evident by his shaky breath,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Receptive olive eyes searing deep holes</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Into ground I once thought impenetrable,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A similar fate I feared for my lizard person.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before my Kyle’s condition could worsen,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I released at long last my innate tempest</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Putting fears and insecurity aside to rest</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As I requited this love so vastly intricate</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That only with the seal of a kiss is it met.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When Kyle shot me a quizzical look</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It hit me my meaning he hadn’t took</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So I requested for a writing utensil,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To which Kyle handed me a pencil,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Get my missive across more better.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Once my feelings littered this letter,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I then tentatively allowed Kyle to read it,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hoping my handwriting had succeeded</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In gaining me entrance to his shelter,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Escaping the outside and its swelter.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His ensuing, adoring gaze granted me access. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right then and there, my faith reached its axis,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>All that remained now, to seal the deal,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And thus establishing this love as real,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Was an impassioned and convergent kiss,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A transition to coexisting in domestic bliss.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>However, just before I could initiate it first,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Kyle sprang into my arms, about to burst</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With enamourment unfit for containment,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Its prospect of release my entertainment</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For that one transient second.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His mere existence beckon’d</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Me closer towards the homey security</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Momentarily unfazed by my impurities,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of the refuge now residing within</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Two nonentities eternally smitten.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Once ensconced, he left me befuddled</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With a smooch that, although muddled,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One could sense the unfiltered desire</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emanating from his proverbial bonfire</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nestled between this abutting haven</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whence out flew a saturnine raven.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Now that you have (hopefully) finished reading the entirety of "Refuge", I would first like to profusely apologize to any devoted readers for promising to update this a week after the publication of the first chapter way back in October. Life kept me pretty occupied, to put it simply, and I just did not plan accordingly (aka I slacked off or had no motivation whenever I did have time to work on it). </p><p>Furthermore, while working on parts 4-7, I had to constantly omit a number of things, one of them which even included an eight part that I eventually removed from the final product altogether because it did not align with my vision (in my personal opinion, at least). However, I have managed to pull through and finally complete this for good, so I hope y'all still enjoyed it and will leave praise and feedback down in the comments section below. I highly recommend doing so, but you don't have to if you wish. Thank you for your patience reading through this mess of an apology, and I seriously hope this doesn't happen ever again in future fics/lh.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Revised as of April 11, 2021, to modify a few lines.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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